


Beneath Clouds

by Sustrai



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, I'll add more tags later ay, M/M, Summer Camp AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-28 23:17:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6349609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sustrai/pseuds/Sustrai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em> There’s a window right here. Maybe if I fling myself out of it I’ll survive. Even breaking my legs would be better than this. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>In which Nagito Komaeda becomes a summer camp counselor and tries to lead a squad of twelve year olds to victory while outrunning his gay thoughts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beneath Clouds

~*~

There’s the bus now.  
It’s his last chance to back out.

Actually, it would be very rude to leave now and he chastises himself immediately for having such a selfish thought.  
Komaeda hefts up his suitcase instead and sticks an arm out to wave at the bus. It slows to a stop nearby. He can hear the door swinging open with a creak and steels himself.

“Fun. This will be fun, remember?” He mutters before hurrying inside the bus. 

“Jabberwock?” The bus driver asks. Komaeda nods as he lifts his bag into the overhead storage. He sits down and exhales, watching out the window they go.

Maybe he should have backed out. Will he even be good at this? Probably not.  
The camp director thought otherwise, at least. She’d called him for an impromptu interview, her voice small and soft yet sounding like a thousand hugs falling from the sky. He’d just been polite and honest- no, he hasn’t been a camp counselor before, no he doesn’t have any childcare experience, yes, he did a first aid course once, no, he doesn’t have any criminal records.  
(“It’s more common than you’d think!” the director had explained quickly.)  
He wonders if they were just that desperate for people, so badly in need as to choose him.

 _Hush, this will be fun_ , he reminds himself as he bites his lip. Remember to think positively.

He watches as the grey of the city melts into green trees and blue skies, bleeding together in a too bright mess.

The bus has picked up a few more people since him, and there were several on the bus before him. He casts a glance around at them.  
A small girl in a cat-ears hoodie hunches over a handheld game, mashing buttons and frowning lightly.  
A large, muscly boy bobs his head in time to tinny music leaking from his earbuds.  
A boy in an astonishingly yellow sweater and with even more astonishingly pink hair is tapping his fingers and glaring out the window, occasionally flitting his view around the bus and sizing up the other passengers.

And when Komaeda thinks the gathered ensemble can’t get any weirder, the bus pulls to a halt to let another passenger on.

Another girl bounds on, toting her suitcase as though it weighs nothing. She shoves it into the overhead storage before putting both hands on her hips.

“I’m here and I’m queer!” She exclaims with a grin.

Komaeda furrows his brow and turns to see if the other passengers are just as confused as he is.  
They aren’t.

Pinky gives her a high-five as she makes her way down the aisle before plonking down next to cat-ears. “Hey, Ibuki.” Cat-ears says without taking her eyes off the screen.  
Ibuki starts chattering away  
“Always one for your entrances, weren’t-cha?” Pinky calls over to her.  
“Performance runs in Ibuki’s blood!”

So, he’s on a bus with a color-blind punk with too much hair dye, a louder punk who speaks in the third person, a socially awkward gamer who might be a furry and a junior class body builder.  
Wonderful.  
Komaeda wonders if it’s still too late to back out.

He tries to melt into the seat and pretend that the passing trees are very interesting. Loud punk spots him. “Woah! Ibuki can spy fresh meat~!”  
She stands and barrels down the aisle to sit next to him.

“Hey hey! I’m Ibuki Mioda!”

 _Everyone within in a five-mile radius must know that,_ he thinks

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Nagito Komaeda.” He says instead.

“I’m gonna just call you marshmallow puff, because that’s what ya hair looks like, okidokie?”

He’s dumbfounded and settles on a nod.

“Oh, oh! Also, this is the meme team!” Ibuki says, gesturing to the other passengers with a sweeping arm movement. Color-blind punk flashes the thumbs up, and maybe-a-furry glances up for a moment to give a small smile. 

“It’s a pleasure.” Komaeda adds, smiling weakly at them.

“That’s Souda, and Chiaki, and Nidai. None of them bite, Ibuki’s the only biter here!”

Maybe this isn’t a summer camp. Maybe he’s been duped into attending some kind of asylum for the clinically insane.

“…Wonderful. How much further away is the camp?”

Souda, the color-blind punk, immediately flicks his head around and makes eye contact with Ibuki, who is covering her gaping mouth.

“Are we there yet~?” They both shriek in unison, stretching their words and sounding like whiny children. Chiaki, the could-be-a-furry, smirks a little, and Arnold Junior roars with laughter.

There’s a window right here, he thinks to himself. Maybe if I fling myself out of it I’ll survive. Even breaking my legs would be better than this.

“Oh boy! We’ve gotta teach you sooo many inside jokes!” Ibuki gasps out through her laughter, patting Komaeda’s hair affectionately.

_I’m definitely on the way to an asylum, aren’t I? No two ways about it._

The trees are thinning out, and Komaeda thinks he can see a wooden sign up ahead.  
When they get closer, he can see it reads ‘Camp Jabberwock’.  
So he’s here.

The other passengers notice it too, and stand to fetch their luggage.

Ibuki and Souda immediately scramble off, scattering out nearby.  
(He can hear Ibuki shrieking “We’re home!” and thinks he can see her skipping out of the corner of his eye.)

Once he’s off, he stands near the bus awkwardly. He can’t see the director anywhere, and Ibuki and Souda are too busy…frolicking.  
He looks at his toes and slows his breathing, trying to focus on a mantra of positivity.

He feels a tug at his sleeve and glances over to see Chiaki standing next to him. “Hey,” she says, voice gentle. “You’ll have fun here.”  
She then cocks her head to the side and presses a finger to her cheek. “…I think.” She adds before drifting away.

Nidai is nowhere to be seen. There are a few other empty buses nearby, and he supposes that other counselors are here already. Somewhere.

Komaeda breathes in deeply and tightens his grip on his suitcase before setting off to try and find the hall.

 

~*~

 

He must look completely lost and hopeless because pretty quickly Souda approaches him. “Hey dude, what are you looking for?”

“Either a cabin to put my things in, or the hall. Wherever I should go, I suppose.”

Souda slaps his own forehead. “Jeez! That’s right, you’re new. Worry not, my dude, I can take ya there!”  
Komaeda mumbles his thanks and trails after the bright haired boy.  
“So, where do we go first?”

“The hall! If we’re in luck, they’ll have cabin placements posted up already.”

The hall is a large wooden building with clear glass windows. There are picnic tables outside, and a cork notice board nearby. Sure enough, various coloured papers are tacked to the board.  
It seems he’s been allocated a dorm with Souda, Nidai, and another boy.  
“Hinata, yo!” Sounda yells, punching the air victoriously. He turns to Komaeda. “Hinata’s a mega bro!”

He nods politely, “So, where is cabin ten?”  
Souda gestures to a wooden sign with wobbly painted stars and directions. “See the second star on the right? Follow that direction to the cabins.”

“Aha, and straight on til morning?”

Souda looks blank. 

“…Nevermind. Wherever the second star says.”

“Yeah! I’ll catch up with ya later—the cabin should still be unlocked, too.”

And with that, Souda starts jogging back to wherever he came from. Komaeda readjusts his grip on his luggage and approaches the sign. He eyes it up curiously. Kitchen that way, campers’ cabins to the left. The second star to the right indeed directs him to the counselor’s cabins. He begins to move towards them.  
Cabin ten should be his.

He reaches a wooden cabin with a golden number ten painted on the doorway. When he goes to push the door open, it’s thankfully unlocked. He pads in, conscious of the soft squeaking his shoes make against the tiled floor. No-one else is in there, but there are other items of luggage that have been deposited on the bunk beds.  
He tosses his bags up onto the nearest empty top bunk.

There’s a bunk bed in each corner of the room and two cupboards across from each other. To the right, there’s an off-shooting room. Komaeda moves to inspect it, and finds it’s a small kitchenette.  
Well, it’s a room with a bench, a microwave, a kettle and a pantry, but that’s probably better than nothing, at least.  
The cabin isn’t very big, but it should fit four boys in it, he thinks.

He wastes another few minutes pretending to look around the cabin and thinking that perhaps he should leave. After a long moment of silent deliberation, he does.  
He quietly shuts the door behind him and moves back to the wooden sign from before.  
The campers don’t arrive til tomorrow, so he doesn’t need to go settle them down. He throws a glance over to the hall, and it doesn’t look like anyone is in there yet. 

He goes back to the bus and hovers around it. Ibuki and Souda are out in the field with some other counselors, and Chiaki is crouched under a tree with a handheld game. He can’t bring himself to bother her, so he watches the other group.  
A ball is being tossed around, procured from somewhere. A brunette girl looks like she’s teaching Ibuki how to do a cartwheel or something, and Souda is clapping rhythmically while laughing with them.  
They notice him and wave him over. Komaeda starts to shake his head but freezes mid-movement.

_C’mon. Do it. This is the first step._

So he approaches them. But there is no way he’s doing cartwheels.

 

~*~

 

“C’moooon! What kinda boy is that chicken?”

“Go go marshmallow puff!”

“You’ve got this, yo!”

And that’s how Komaeda ends up trying to do a cartwheel. 

 

~*~

 

The sun is starting to set and the group is starting to drift away. Chiaki approaches him. “You have grass stains.” She observes. He shrugs in reply.

“Everyone is going to the hall now. Monomi’s probably ready to give her talk., I think.”

The name sounds familiar, and Komaeda thinks that Monomi is the camp director? He’ll find out in a moment anyway.  
He and Chiaki walk to the hall in silence. It’s not a heavy, awkward silence. It’s comfortable, the type that doesn’t need to be broken.  
She has a very calming presence, he notes.  
She’s probably a good counselor. The type that is listened to because she’s wise and serene.  
Ibuki and Souda are probably good too—they’re bright, inviting and energetic.  
Everyone so far seems nice enough. Welcoming, if a bit weird.

A woman dressed in pink stands in the hall, twiddling her fingers together. She gives a bright smile at the pair is they walk in.  
“I’m miss Monomi.” She tells the group. “Oh, but most of you know that!”  
This is definitely the woman he spoke to on the phone- soft voice, but warm and welcoming tone.  
“Well, um. Welcome to our new counselors, and welcome back to our older counselors!” An exuberant cheer goes up through the room. Komaeda leans against the wall and watches.

Monomi goes through a speech addressing rules and the code of behavior. It’s all pretty common knowledge type stuff, and he allows his mind to drift away.  
Her voice makes him a little sleepy, to be honest.

“And after ten pm, you’re allowed to leave the campsite if—“

She’s cut off by the glass door to the hall sliding open. A brunette boy ducks his head apologetically and shuffles over to join the group. Monomi looks like she’s going to start talking again, but she’s cut off by a chorus of greetings for the newcomer.  
“Hey, everyone!” He replies. “Sorry Monomi, keep going.”

Monomi looks a little miffed. “Next time be quieter please, Hinata. Um, so I was saying! You’re allowed to leave so long as you come back by one…”

So this is Hinata. Komaeda watches as he stands near Souda and waves to the group. He looks over to Komaeda and they make eye contact.  
Komaeda raises a hand to wave but the other boy is already looking away.

_Fine. Fine, you do that._

He lowers his hand back down awkwardly and hopes no-one saw.

“Hm… and we watch our language in front of the children! But you’re all precious anyway, you don’t use naughty words.”

He can hear people snickering and some of the group pointedly looks at a girl with pigtails, who smirks slightly and shrugs.

“I think that’s just about it! Your group assignments are posted outside, if you haven’t seen them already. If there aren’t any questions you can go get your meal!”

Immediately, people begin to move towards the door. Monomi smiles fondly as they barrel down to what Komaeda presumes is the dining hall.  
On his way there, he pauses to check his assignment.  
He’s leading a group of seven twelve-year-old boys, and Hinata is his partner.

Of all people, of course it’s the one who shows up late and doesn’t wave back. Just his luck.  
Only six weeks, he reminds himself, thought leaking sarcasm, before following the group.

He can hear scraping noises coming from the dining hall and enters, confused. Rickety-looking plastic tables are being pushed across the floor and assembled into a long line. Komaeda pauses in the doorway.  
“Hey, marshmallow puff! Come help!”

_…Is she serious about this nickname?_

He bites back a retort and hurries over to help adjust the tables instead.

 

~*~

 

They eat in a long line, voices rising over the top of each other in a cacophony, utensils scraping against plates and occasional bouts of loud laughter.  
It feels like he’s an intruder at a family gathering.

Chiaki sits next to him, though. Her presence is just as comforting as before.

Everyone is chattering excitedly and catching up. A few times, the conversation is directed towards him—what high school does he go to, why does he wanna try camp counseling, what’s going on with his hair?

“Well, you’re one to talk.” He shoots back at Ibuki, who’d asked the last question. The table erupts into laughter again, and Souda applauds loudly.  
When the attention moves to someone else, Chiaki nudges him softly in his ribs. “See? You’ll be fine here... probably.” She tells him, sounding caring.

And maybe he will. Probably.

 

~*~

 

“So, the kids get here tomorrow.” Hinata says.

The brunette is perched on his bunk-bed, legs swinging off the sides. Komaeda nods. “Yeah!” Souda replies energetically. 

“And we’re leading together—what was your name again, sorry?”

“Komaeda. And yes.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry too much about looking after them. I’m good with kids, so I’ve got this.”

_Are you implying that I’m not?  
…This means war. _

He smiles politely in acknowledgement but in his mind, he’s already plotting Hinata’s downfall and destruction.  
He swears to himself that he’ll be far, far better and camp counseling than this asshole.  
These kids are gonna love him.

 

Probably.

 

Hopefully.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m sorry if I offended any furries today.  
> Also Ibuki is so very queer and no one can tell me otherwise.
> 
> Next chapter the campers will be coming in, ayyyy! My little shitlord babies <3
> 
> But yeah. Comments and kudos are always appreciated (wink wink) and I’ll see you all again whenever I finish off the next installment!  
> And I’m always hecka happy to work with what people want to see! If you’ve got something that you think would be cool, I’d be super happy with you commenting or hitting up my tumblr ask box. (spirit-track)


End file.
